Kingdom Hearts: Reawakened
by rexstrife2
Summary: With Sora and Riku gone to take the Mark of Mastery exam, Kairi is again alone on the islands, desperately trying to make sense of her troubling dreams. When a cloaked figure approaches her, Kairi takes up his offer and embarks on a journey of her own. *Next Chapter Coming Soon!*
1. Opening Statement and Technical Jargon

**From the Desk of Rexstrife2**

Hello ! My name is rexstrife2 and Kingdom Hearts: Reawakened is my first crack at writing fanfiction.

In its essence, Reawakened is a pure, wholesome Kingdom Hearts story that aims to stay as close to the Kingdom Hearts mythos and abide by all of the set Kingdom Heart's rules and regulations. That being said, my story takes place simultaneously with the newly released (in Japan) Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance. A working knowledge of the previous entries to the series will help you grip the story a little better, but I will do my best to explain the basic concepts within the plot.

I do not support any pairings of any of the characters, so Sora-Kairi fans will have to look somewhere else if that is their goal, but hopefully you'll stick around!

Concerning Disney worlds and any cameos from other titles, I again will attempt my best at staying true to the characters and plotlines as they were created initially. If anyone feels that I have failed to do so, please let me know and I'll make any adjustments to do them justice.

Disclaimer wise, no Disney or Square Enix characters belong to me of course. The sparse original character's I use should be obvious to pick out, but I may address them when the time comes.

Aside from that, I mention that this is my first ever fanfic. As opposed to "taking it easy on me" I personally would greatly thank anyone who is willing to give me unfiltered criticism, as I believe it is the best way to grow as an artist of any sort.

All of that aside, thank you for listening to my ramblings.

Without further distraction, I present to you Kingdom Hearts: Reawakened.


	2. Departure

**Kingdom Hearts: Reawakened**

A blue and yellow ball bounced down a road of cobblestone. Each impact with the ground echoed out into forever.

She gave chase, a young girl yet again, her sandals likewise echoing off of harsh stone. The world seemed to move in slow motion as she giggled innocently, her feathery red hair blown by a gentle breeze. Life was bliss.

The ball continued to roll, with the young girl giving chase. Down the steps it went, and the girl screeched to a halt. For when the prey of her innocent chase finally reached its landing point, it laid in front of two cold steel doors, menacingly daring her to inch nearer. Her grandmother told her strictly not to set foot near the gates of the laboratory.

At the top of the steps she waited, her heart racing as she wondered if she could chance a sprint down there to grab the ball. She would only be down there but a second.

Giving in to temptation, she cautiously began her descent down the stairs, bewilderment overcoming her as her bright blue eyes grew wide. It seemed like a lifetime had passed when she reached the last step.

And then the doors drew open.

She froze in place as two men walked out of the lab. One of them in somber clothes of grey, the only color decorating him was a red bandana placed around his neck. An eye patch covered his scarred face, framed by black hair oiled back. She had seen him before, but not his companion.

The other man exited wearing a long white coat. He had a stern look of concentration on his face, the bristling focus reflecting in his long silver hair that spiked up at the top and sides, and then gently fell part way down his back.

The scarred man chuckled loudly as they reached the outside.

"As if! You couldn't possibly think….well what do we have here?"

He had noticed the ball, the girl tensed up as she tried to walk back up the stairs. She stumbled and fell on her rear, right onto the cold steps. She wanted to cry.

The laughing man bent down to grab the ball as the silver hair man looked on with annoyance.

"This your ball girly?" the man with the eye patch mused, "you should be more careful with this stuff y'know? What would happen if I just picked it up and walked away?" He let out the most terrifying laugh she had ever heard, sickening her to her stomach.

Tears welled up in her eyes, but her body froze where it was. All she wanted to do was cry.

And then the silver haired man came to her rescue, prying the ball from his partner's hand.

"Braig that's enough! Our time is not to be wasted here!"

He walked briskly over to her, his face unmoving from the cold intensity it held. His arm outstretched, placing the ball next to her on the step. But before she could feel relief, she met his eyes. Odd yellow eyes that were both interesting, yet terrifying. He wouldn't look away.

She began to cry, trying to look away. But whenever she glanced back he was still there with the same gaze. Her heart began to race, the world crumbling around her.

A faint feeling overtook her, her vision deteriorating with only the silver haired man clear amongst a crumbling world.

But a voice called out to her. A small voice, familiar, yet distant.

It spoke only one word.

"Kairi!"

And then, light consumed the world, the silver haired man, and even her.

**Destiny Islands**

Kairi awoke with a jolt, scrambling amongst the sand of the beach. Her heart raced as she franticly gathered in her surroundings. She was back on Destiny Islands, her home.

"Kairi, are you okay?" Sora's concerned blue eyes questioned from behind her.

"Yeah, I'm…I must've been dreaming...but I'm okay!" she gave a reassuring smile to her friend Sora, whose wild brown hair avoided his face at all cost. His blue eyes gazed upon her with a concerned look, she hadn't been to convincing.

He offered his hand up to pull her from the beach, getting her back up to her feet with a lighthearted laugh.

"Haha, what were you dreaming about Kairi? I leave for a second and you're asleep like a normal person, but I come back and you're scrambling on the sand!"

"I…I don't know. Sora, it seemed almost…real. For a second, I could've sworn I was a little girl again! In some…strange place…"

"Hey you two bums! Dozing off again?" called another familiar voice from down the beach.

"Riku!" Sora and Kairi called out simultaneously, sending them both into light laughter.

Their friends long silver hair obscured most of his face, but she could still see a mocking smile underneath his eyes.

"I'm hurt Kairi. We leave tomorrow to take the exam and you're snoozing on the beach? I thought we were friends" Riku jested, "you promised you'd cut my hair and everything, and we're running out of daylight."

The three friends yet again shared a laugh. Inside Kairi wanted to cry.

Both Sora and Riku would be leaving for Master Yen Sid's tower the next morning, where they would take their Mark of Mastery exams. None of them had any idea what the exam would entail, but she suspected they would be separated for a long time. Sora and Riku were yet again leaving her to sit and wait back on the islands worrying about them.

"Hey guys…." she mumbled, trying to hold back her sadness.

Sora's face became worried as he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "What's wrong Kairi?"

She looked at her two friends, the two who had been with her ever since she could remember, and more specifically, all that she could remember. With a deep sigh, she forced a smile back at them.

"Don't ever change."

The three of them sat in silence, watching the sun set over the pristine waters of the islands. Those waters held unimaginable opportunity to them once, but they knew better now. Beyond these islands laid many worlds other than their own, worlds that she and her friends had traveled to once.

Night came and the three friends returned home, returning to their beds to catch up on much needed sleep. These past days had been hard on Kairi as she prepared to once again be without both Sora and Riku. She remembered waiting on the beach with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, hoping for any sign of her friend's return from their fight with the Nobody Xemnas. When Sora and Riku finally returned, she had hoped it would be for good.

And then King Mickey's letter came, summoning her two friends to take the Mark of Mastery exam. The king said that there were still people out there that needed saving, injured and lost hearts to be healed. She understood the necessity of it all, but inside she yearned for the days where they would all just relax on the islands with no care in the world and a craving for adventure.

Kairi fell asleep to those memories, huddled under her sheets as she prepared to be, once again, alone.

**The Next Day**

Morning brought the three together on the beach once again, Sora with his child like excitement for the test to come, Riku with his quiet determination, and Kairi who still held a heavy heart.

"So Riku, what do you think Master Yen Sid has in store for you guys?" she asked, trying to keep her mind busy.

"I'm not too sure. He hasn't given us any details, but I'm sure everything will turn out all right."

"All right?" Sora butted in, "this will be easy Riku! Between you and me, there's nothing he can throw at us that we won't be able to handle! Heartless, Nobodies, and whatever other tricks he has up those sleeves, he can bring it on, tell him Kairi!"

Kairi let out a sincere laugh that Sora always knew how to get out of her.

"You guys will do great! When you both come back as Keyblade Masters, you better believe I'll have a party waiting for you."

"There you go Riku, we don't have anything to worry ab—"

A blinding light shone out from above the island as the sound of burning jets echoed across the water.

"Don't touch that Goofy! Were gonna cra-a-a-a-a-ash!"

"I didn't touch anythin! Woah! Look's like we're goin down!"

A small airship began to plummet its way to the beach, jerking back and forth.

"Look out!" cried Riku as he pulled his two friends to the ground, barely dodging the ship as it flew overhead, skidding to a halt on the sands.

When it finally came to a stop, the hatch popped open, a disorientated Donald Duck clambering from the passenger's seat. He collapsed dizzily, only to be crushed by a dazed Goofy who had tripped out of the ship on top of him.

"Goofy….would you mind….getting off of me you big paloooka!" Donald shouted at his klutz of a friend as he entered into one of his signature freakouts.

"Gawrsh Donald I'm sorr-hey look! It's Sora, Riku, and Kairi! Hey everyone!"

The three friends rushed over to the new arrivals, Riku pulling Goofy off of Donald as Sora helped the enraged duck back to his feet.

They reunited, telling each other about the happenings of the past few months. The king had decoded Jimminy's journal, a record of Sora's past travels, that he, Donald, and Goofy ended up getting pulled into. In the end, the king met Namine, or a data version of her anyways, that told the king about those people whose hearts needed to be mended, resulting in his letter to Sora.

It was more than she could get a hold on, but then again, so were most of the things they encountered out in the worlds.

Before too long it was already time for her friends to depart.

"Alright Kairi, you take care of yourself. We'll be back before you even realize we've left." Sora radiated confidence as he gave her one final embrace.

Riku came in for his turn, squeezing her to the point of suffocation. "Don't go getting into too much trouble now!"

"Oh I'll try hard not too!" she chuckled.

Kairi waved one final goodbye to her friends as they loaded up onto the Gummi ship with Donald and Goofy!

"Take care you two! Come back soon! And be careful!"

"Don't worry Kairi! I'll keep Sora out of trouble. We'll be back before you know it!" Riku called back before getting jostled by Sora.

The Gummi ship's engines flared, sending waves of water rippling from underneath its engines. It slowly rose up in the air, and then with a flash it flew off, turning into a pinpoint of light on the horizon.

And then they were gone.

Kairi plopped onto the sand of the beach. She didn't know how to feel. Pride for her friends filled her heart, but so did disappointment in herself that she couldn't help them in any way.

She had always been the one in danger, or at best, the one sitting on the sidelines. Only once had she ever been able to help, that time when Riku handed her a keyblade to fight the heartless in the Organization XIII's headquarters. But even now on the sand, thrusting her hand out into the air, she couldn't bring it back. The power she had held for just a second was now gone.

Her fists slammed the ground as uncontrollable tears swelled in her eyes. She was tired of being dead weight to her friends, tired of them having to worry about her. Even now all she could do was cry.

And cry she did, for how long she wouldn't be able to recall. The seagulls cawed in the distance for what could have been hours. The sun lowered itself on the horizon, casting its glorious reds and oranges into the sky.

Kairi was startled to hear footsteps down the beach, probably Tidus and Wakka getting ready to spar. She quickly whipped her tears away as she turned embarrassingly to face them.

"Hey guys I'm…oh!"

To her surprise, the footsteps belonged to neither of her friends.

Instead, only feet from her stood a figure in a black cloak, a hood obscuring any vision of his face.

She stumbled back in fear. Last time she had seen a cloak like that, it had belonged to Axel, a member of the Organization who kidnapped her on these same beaches. Again she tried to bring out that keyblade in any way, but nothing answered.

The figure turned towards her, but made no further move. She noticed that they couldn't have been much more than a head taller than her, perhaps if it came to a struggle she could get away.

"Why do you cry girl? "It questioned her in a deep, gruff voice unfitting for his size, "is it because you have no worth? You sit here on this island while your companions go on to fight for a greater purpose. Do you find yourself worthless?" he let out a cold laugh, but his body never so much as shifted.

"Who are you? What are you doing here? Answer me!"

She tried to sound intimidating, but the shakiness of her voice gave her away.

"I know about you Kairi. Some might say we have a lot in common. And I know about Sora and Riku too, how they left you for a test. You're all alone, and yet, I haven't raised a finger, because I am here to offer you something you've never been given the chance to accept."

The cloaked figure raised his hand out to her, but as he did she again fell to her knees.

The voice from her dream called back out to her, calling her name out again and again, a young boy's voice, standing on the edge of fiction and memory. She clutched at her head, wishing the voice would stop.

He backed away, lowering his hand from her.

"I see. You really are the one then, there's no mistaking it. I know the thoughts that invade your mind Kairi, memories that have until now been lost. These memories I can explain to you, but if you follow me, then you take your life into your own hands and find out for yourself. It's your call."

A dark portal appeared behind the man, one that he slowly backed into, disappearing from the beach.

She looked at the darkness as it flickered, calling to her. What did her dream mean? And why did it pull itself back into her mind once he made a move to her. She had to know, she finally had the chance to prove herself.

With a shove she rose to her feet, her legs uncooperative as she slowly paced towards the gate.

"Sora. Riku. I'm sorry. I'll be back here when you return. I promise. But this is something I have to do."

She entered the gate. Whatever her dreams meant, whatever that strange man was talking about, she was going to find out. More importantly, she was going this one alone.

No longer would she sit the sidelines.

**(?)**

The figure passed through the gate, no longer enshrouded in darkness. Instead, he felt his feet fall upon thick glass.

Before him stood a masterful work of art, a huge pane of stained glasswork depicting two cloaked figures back to back. Around them lay scenery of a laboratory, with machines ready to begin their work and many men in white lab coats pondering over clipboards.

Across from him, on the opposite end of the glass, stood a man cloaked like himself, facing him, but unmoving.

He walked towards this man.

"As I have promised you, I found her, weak and gullible as ever."

The other figure spared no words to him.

"How does it feel? It's been how many years now?"

Silence followed.

"How I thrive on your fear. You feign disinterest, and yet I can feel your body shake. I can feel the anger within you surge and pulse. For you know what I can, and will, do to her. Her heart will be mine, all I have to do is remove it from her. There isn't a single thing you can do to prevent the inevitable."

The other figure stood there as he came toe to toe with him. The other man came only to his shoulders, a mere boy.

The two faced each other for quite some time. The silence was as powerful as any beasts cry against the unending darkness.

And then, the other spoke.

"You lay a finger on Kairi, and I'll destroy your heart."

His voice, while young, was full of fury.

The figure from the Islands let out a boastful laugh.

"It will come to pass, I assure you of this. But when it does, I am most curious to see what meaningless struggle you will put up."

And with that, he was gone, back into the dark corridor to his destination.

The other figure stood there for a long while. Alone, he let himself loose. His body shook.


	3. The Journey Begins

**Andy's Room**

As the Corridor to Darkness closed behind her, Kairi stumbled, trying to regain her footing.

She clumsily lurched forward only to find the absence of ground ahead of her, her body clenching from the feeling of nothing but open air below.

With slightly delayed reflexes, she clutched on to the floor behind her, grabbing on to a wooden surface as her legs dangled below.

"Whew, that was far too close." She reassured herself, pulling herself on to what she deduced to be some sort of wooden platform.

Kairi raised herself back up, her muscles straining. She wasn't used to this business like Sora.

Lying upon the platform, Kairi took a second to catch her breath. Adrenaline still cursed through her body as she tried to calm herself down. This was a new feeling to her, her adventure had now begun.

She raised herself up, looking around her to get a gathering of her surroundings.

The Dark Corridor from where she came had disappeared, leaving her where she stood. To her right she was amazed to see what appeared to be a large book two stories tall. To her left sat a likewise enormous Teddy Bear.

"What is this…oh!"

Looking down at her own hands, Kairi was shocked to see that she herself had changed. At her wrists and elbows sat two metal bolts, connecting her hands to her arms. The same applied to her legs, which were held together at the knee with similar pins. She knocked on her leg to hear wood clank against wood, sending her off her feet again as she fell to the floor in bewilderment. She felt her face, feeling yet another pin in her jaw, keeping her wooden face together.

"What happened to me? Where am I?"

Her heart was beating out of her chest. See quickly gathered in the rest of the room.

Below her sat a giant bed, with a pillow the size of a city and sheets that resembled and endless sea. Enormous windows shone bright light onto a large chest at one wall of the room, its lid held tightly closed. She was in a child's room for all she could gather.

Her surveillance was interrupted by a booming voice coming from a large door to the far left of her platform.

"Andy! It's time to put your toys away! You have to get ready for school or you'll miss the bus!"

"Just a minute mom!" responded an extraordinarily loud, yet young voice from beyond the door.

She had to hide. Whatever was the source of that voice could be friend or foe in whatever world she had landed herself in. So Kairi wedged herself in behind the stuffed bear to watch.

The door slammed open as a giant of a boy rushed on in. He dashed into the room with a clamor; the only feature Kairi could distinguish was a large red hat around his neck. He threw something onto his bed, and just like that, he was back out the door.

Kairi sat behind the bear for a while, trying to figure out exactly what was going on.

"What is this place? That boy was a giant! And where did that man go…" she wondered aloud as she walked back over to the edge of the platform.

She was so busy pondering her surroundings that her body jerked off the platform as a large, furry thing touched the back of her arm.

Her scream echoed across the room as she felt the bottomless abyss take hold of her. Her body was careening towards the ground, hundreds of feet from where she once stood. She was weak; her adventure was over before it began.

Suddenly, she felt a tug around her waist as a powerful grip lifted her right back into the air.

"To infinity and beyond!" shouted a commanding voice from above her as they soared across the room.

"Look out!" Kairi screamed as they flew into a wire that suspended an enormous toy airplane. They clipped the wire and whirled around wildly, soaring off towards the giant bed.

They crashed into the bed, sending both Kairi and her savior tumbling across the covers, thankfully cushioning the landing.

She laid there for a minute, her body aching from the crash. When she finally pulled herself from the bed, she saw her savior standing before her, a strange looking man in some sort of suit, with helmet and all the works. From his back protruded two wings that swung back into him with a "woosh" at the push of a button on his wrist.

For a second they both froze. But the man broke the silence.

"Greetings traveler! I am Buzz Lightyear of Star Command! I saw you infiltrate the perimeter during my daily scouting so I have to ask you, what brings you to our planet?" he inquired as he offered his hand to her, pulling her back to her feet.

"Oh...I was just following umm….well….I'm Kairi!"

"Kairi is it? Well Kairi, I'm just going to have to have you come down to the station and answer a couple questions. On this strange planet, you can never be too—"

"Buzz!" came a cry from below.

"I have found the locals to be pleasant enough. Come on Kairi, I'm very curious as to how you got in here." He grabbed her around the waste as they both hopped down off the bed and onto the floor below.

What Kairi saw before her was startling. The whole room was covered in what appeared to be toys, but they were as large as she was and moving around, talking amongst each other.

"Buzz! Buzz! I can't believe it! That was amazing! You were flying!" shouted a very exasperated green dinosaur as he ran towards them, his short arms flailing wildly.

Another toy, part dog, part slinky, hobbled on over to them, "yeah Buzz that was incredible! I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it!"

A large pig joined the party, "you're the man stud! You're gonna have to show me that move sometime stud!"

Lastly, what appeared to be a giant potato-man awkwardly shuffled on over, "Buzz, let me tell you. That was amazing! That was spectacular! That was—who's the girl?"

At his words, all the toys looked directly at her as Kairi tried to shrink away, but Buzz pushed her forward towards them.

"Everyone, this is Kairi, a visitor to our planet from some ways away. Kairi this is Rex, Slink, Hamm, and Mr. Potato Head. I leave you in their hands until I can find the proper documentation for you to fill out, now where did I put that-", Buzz wandered off, leaving her with the group of toys.

They all greeted her enthusiastically; questioning where she was from and how she was enjoying her stay in what she gathered was referred to as Andy's room.

After a while she managed to sneak away from the group, wandering around to gather in her new surroundings and, hopefully, find a sign of where that cloaked man went.

She came up to a large cardboard box with the word Sherriff written on the front. Pushing open a makeshift door, she found herself face to face with another toy, this one with a large leather cowboy hat and a cow skin vest. He turned to look at her with a sullen face and a sigh.

"Look at them all out there. They all think Buzz is so great. The perfect toy…" he hung his head in despair, hardly seeming to notice her.

"Umm, excuse me." She got his attention as he looked up at her, his face changing from glum to quizzical much like the other toys. "My name is Kairi, I'm uh….I'm new."

"Oh great another new toy, just what we needed. Well Kairi, you don't seem as big headed as Buzz so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. The name's Woody." He offered her a handshake, which she delightedly accepted.

"Well Woody it's good to meet you. What are you doing in here all alone?"

He glanced out the window.

"Ever since Andy got Buzz…well things just haven't been the same. I feel like there's just no place for a toy like me anymore. I mean, look at him! He's got light up lasers, wings, and his helmet does that _whoosh_ thing! How could a broken down cowboy even compare to that."

Kairi looked at her new disheartened friend in sympathy.

"You know, you're not the only one who feels worthless. Back at home, my friends Sora and Riku are always defending me, and I appreciate them for that and could never think of two better friends in the world. But sometimes," she let out a long sigh, "I just wish I could help them instead of them always saving me."

He looked over at her as they both sat against the cardboard walls.

"Don't I know how that feels. Well I suppose there comes a time in every toys life where he starts on the track to the garage sale…I was just hoping that—"

He was cut off by a shrill scream from outside the box that developed into several shouts of chaos.

"Bo Peep! What's going on out there?" Woody scrambled onto his feet and dashed out of the room, with Kairi hot on his trail.

Outside of the box, toys were running every which way with small black creatures in pursuit.

"Heartless!" Kairi called out, dodging Rex as the dinosaur went speeding past her.

Buzz appeared out of nowhere to her side, "alien invaders sent by Emperor Zurg, of course! Stand back Kairi, I'm setting my lasers from stun to kill!"

"No way are you showing me up this time Buzz! This is a rodeo and I'm calling the shots!" Woody whipped a lasso over his head and roped it around a passing heartless. "Let me see you do that Buzz!" he gloated.

A large bellied heartless stampeded his way over, knocking both Buzz and Woody to the ground and making a beeline straight for her. Kairi threw her hands up to defend herself, wincing as she prepared for the impact. But it never came. Instead, she opened her eyes to watch a heart where the heartless once stood float up into the air. Where it once stood sat the head of her keyblade, a beautiful tool of light ready to aid her. It hadn't left her for good after all.

"Alright guys, stand back. I'll protect you!" Kairi yelled to her new friends as she charged off at another heartless.

Her form was awkward, but her keyblade hit its fair share of heartless, sending their hearts soaring into the air. Another large heartless pounded its chest at her, ready to charge, when a large roll of tape smashed into it and sent it to the ground. She looked up to see Woody sending more and more down, beating the heartless with his constant barrage.

Before too long she found herself surrounded, turning around to see heartless on every side, regretting letting the adrenaline get the better of her. A heartless leaped up at her, only to be knocked out of the air by Buzz. Seeing an opening, she launched herself at the heartless, clumsily swinging the blade as she set their hearts free.

The remaining heartless began to scatter, sinking back into the darkness as Buzz, Woody, and Kairi took care of the stragglers.

Her blood was rushing when she finally had a second to catch her breath.

"Whew, that was a close one," she wheezed, hunched over. It would take her awhile to get used to this kind of heroics.

"Who were those guys? They don't look like any toys that I've seen" inquired Woody as he worked out a kink in his shoulder.

"Zurg must have found me, sending his minions to finish me off! I'm worried you're no longer safe with me here sheriff! Kairi, I saw you fight out there."

She couldn't help but hide a momentary blush.

"Those scum didn't stand a chance against you. For now I'm making you a temporary-honorary space cadet until this threat is—"

Woody slammed his hands onto Buzz's shoulders forcefully, his eyes clenched as he gazed through the spaceman's helmet.

"How many times do I have to tell you this before you get it through your head? You are a toy Buzz! T-o-y, toy! You're no space ranger; you're a child's plaything!"

Buzz looked menacingly back at Woody, his authoritative posture unblemished by the skirmish with the heartless.

"Sheriff, I advise you to take a step back before I'm forced to restrain you!"

"Restrain me with what? You're light up lasers? Your karate chop action? Your—"

"You two stop it!" Kairi belted, having had enough of their bickering. "Toy, space ranger, does it even make a difference? You two should be working together, not arguing between yourselves over and over again! That's not what friends are for!"

They both looked at her, confusion and a slight look of offense written on their faces.

Woody burst with laughter.

"Friends? You think we're friends? Oh come on now! This guy is clearly defective!"

"You'd better watch your tongue sheriff, before it gets you in deeper trouble."

Kairi stood helplessly as the two continued to stare each other down. She tried to think of anything to say, something Sora would have done to bring these two together, but nothing came to mind as she floundered for words.

Suddenly, a loud cry came from atop the bed, startling the three.

"That sounded like Slink!" cried Woody, leaping into action, "hold on Slink, I'm coming!"

Buzz turned to Kairi and grabbed her by the wrist, dragging her behind as he ran to his friend's aid.

"Come on cadet! We still have a job to do!"

"Umm…alright! Whatever I can do to help sir!" She played along.

After climbing up the sheets, Kairi and Buzz spotted Slinky backed up against the open window. A few heartless had danced around him, inching him closer to the open air.

"Buzz thank God you're here! Get these guys away from me!" cried the dog.

Buzz and Kairi ran towards the heartless, entering the fray once again. There were only a few there, but Kairi could still feel the rush of excitement flow through her as she made an opening for Slinky to rush out of harm's way.

As she turned upon the last heartless, Kairi was interrupted by a loud sound drawing near. She quickly turned to defend herself.

"Buzz! Look out!" she shouted in alarm, but it was too late.

A large toy car smashed into them, sending the pair flying out the window.

Feeling nothing but air below her, Kairi screamed as her keyblade dissipated from her hands.

There was nobody to save her this time.


	4. Pizza Planet

**Andy's Yard**

Blackness encompassed Kairi's vision. She could feel her body ache, but no movement was available to her. For a while she laid there, floating in the darkness, an almost peaceful place where nothing but silence echoed on and on.

"Giving up already Kairi?" spoke a familiar voice from the blackness.

"Riku? Riku is that you?" she mumbled, trying to locate the source of the voice.

She felt a firm grip grab her hand, pulling her out of the darkness and back to her feet. When she opened her eyes, she saw Riku there, a smirk spread wise across his face as his emerald green eyes gazed at her.

"Riku? Cadet have you lost it already?"

Riku dissipated before her eyes, in his place stood Buzz. Around them sat lush greenery, it must have lessened the impact of the fall. But even so, Kairi could feel her body ache within her wooden joints; she remembered the tumble that they had taken.

"Note to star command, the new cadet seems to be experiencing severe head trauma."

"Oh, I'm sorry sir! But I'm okay really, just a few scratches and bumps here and there."

He looked at her with doubt written plainly across his face.

"Come on cadet; let's find a way back up there. I'll conduct some recon in back; you go check out the front. That sheriff will serve his time when I return." The spaceman wandered off to the back of the yard, leaving Kairi confused and alone.

She decided she might as well go check out the front of the building, inching along the side of the house as to not attract any attention to herself. She rounded the corner only to dip quickly back as a large blue van pulled into the driveway. Out from it jumped the same large boy from before, his excited footsteps sending tremors across the ground as Kairi tried to maintain balance.

"Alright Andy," boomed a loud voice from the van, "go in and grab one toy, then we'll head out to Pizza Planet. Just be quick!'

"Okay mom, I just have to run in and grab Buzz! Be back in a sec!" the boy hastily responded before springing into the house.

Kairi sprinted around the house to find Buzz, nearly crashing into him as she rounded the corner to the back yard.

"Buzz," she panted, trying to catch her breath, "that giant kid is back. He ran into the house looking for you! They said they're leaving soon so we gotta go!"

"Good work cadet, let's move out!"

The two of them ran back to the front, pausing only to make sure the woman in the van was looking away before they ran to the underside of the van.

"Alright cadet, grab onto something and don't let go! We're going to be in for a bumpy ride." Buzz explained as he latched on to a metal bar above them. She struggled a bit, but finally managed to pull herself onto a large tube, sitting atop it as she waited.

The front door crashed shut as the boy came shuffling back to the van.

"Mom, I can't find Buzz…" he moaned in a defeated tone, "so I brought Woody instead."

Buzz was alerted at the sound of the name.

"That sheriff is going to pay for this insubordination. Once this thing stops, I'll give him a little piece of what we like to call Space Ranger justice."

The van started up, jostling Kairi around as they started down the road. As her stomach roiled inside of her, she fought the urge to throw up. It was not going to be a fun ride. She clenched her eyes shut and imagined something more peaceful, memories of home with Sora and Riku at her side.

Before too long, the van pulled up to a stop, finally giving her a chance to hope down from her terrible ride. She stumbled around a bit at first, trying to regain stability as Buzz hopped down beside her.

"A refueling station I see. All right cadet, let's get in there and show that sheriff a piece of our mind!" he ran off yet again. He was always doing that, she realized, running from place to place without a moments consideration. Somehow she always managed to get wrapped up in these things, but she supposed that's what being a cadet was all about. She wasn't too sure.

They climbed the sleek metal exterior of the van, pulling themselves up through the glass window that was thankfully cracked open enough for them to squeeze through. With little grace, Kairi plopped down onto the cushioned seat, glad at least to finally be out of the night's cold. But it was not a blessing she had the liberty of taking pleasure in for long.

"Sheriff! You had better explain yourself now!" shouted Buzz as he aimed his red sight for Woody, who had ran up to them.

"Buzz! Kairi! I'm sorry, that wasn't supposed to happen! I was aiming for those things, not trying to send you guys out the window!" Woody panicked.

Kairi could see the regret in his eyes. She knew Woody wasn't a bad guy, his heart was in the right place. She could relate to what he was feeling, she decided to try and calm Buzz down.

"Buzz, relax. Woody didn't mean to displace you, it was all a mistake. Can't we just forget about this and—"

"That's enough cadet! The sheriff tried to usurp me and I for one am done with this!" Buzz charged at Woody, sending the two into a scuffle across the seats, their shouts echoing across the night.

"You two stop it! Please! You need to stop fighting!" Kairi cried in vain, her words falling on deaf ears as the two men continued their struggle. They scrambled their way across the seats, shouting insults at one another as they drew near the door. Woody tried to pull himself to his feet, only to be knocked into the latch by Buzz, popping the door open and sending the pair down onto the black pavement.

Kairi jumped down in pursuit, continuing her plight to them, trying her best to sound assertive and hide the panic in her voice. Suddenly, the door of the gas station opened as Andy and his mother began returning to the vehicle.

"You guys they're coming back! We need to hide quickly!" she shouted as her patience snapped. The giants drew nearer and still the toys continued their scuffle across the parking lot. The time to return to the vehicle had passed as they hopped into the van and sped off.

Woody and Buzz realized this after it was too late, the three of them chasing after the vehicle as it sped down the road.

"Awwww great. Now look what you did Buzz! You could have been perfectly fine and back in Andy's room where you belong. But noooo, the psychotic space ranger had to make a mess of things again."

"Look who's talking sheriff. It's your fault that we're all stuck out here. Without my ship, there's no way that I can make it back to Star Command. You've put the whole universe in jeopardy!"

At that Woody grew fed up and stomped away, leaving Kairi with a fuming Buzz to cool down.

"Buzz, we'll get back, don't worry about it," she tried to sound sure, "we just need to look for…"

She scoped around the station, trying to grasp at any hint of a way out of this mess. Several other vehicles sat stationary around the building, but none of them seemed of use to them.

Then she spotted it. In front of the building sat an odd looking van with a space shuttle attached to its roof. Across its filthy white exterior read the words Pizza Planet.

"Hey you guys! Look! Didn't they say they were headed to Pizza Planet? There's something right there that should take us back to them!"

Woody and Buzz turned their attention to the van, both of their faces lighting up as they realized her genius, or at least she hoped they had.

"Great work cadet! That van will get us there in no time! Sheriff, I'll deal with you later, but for now, let's move out!" Buzz commanded as he led the charge to their ride.

The three of them snuck behind one of the dirt covered wheels, making sure to keep out of sight while searching for any way in. Woody climbed up one of the wheels, making his way up to the back of the vehicle. He shouted down to them as he popped open the back latch, opening the way into a trash covered trunk.

Buzz and Kairi followed him up, the three of them struggled a bit to shut the trunk door, but eventually it clicked in. All was working splendidly for once.

An awkward silence was thankfully cut short as the driver exited the station and swung open the door to the driver's seat, his slightly overweight body crushing down on the leather seat as he started up the rumbling van.

As they started to move down the road towards Pizza Planet, Kairi took the down time as a chance to recollect her thoughts. So much had happened today, her first day as a true adventurer. She could still remember the strength she felt while holding her keyblade in defiance of the heartless, protecting her new friends with her life. Did she need some work? Possibly, but it felt great to be able to protect somebody by any extent. She giggled quietly to herself as she imagined what Sora and Riku would say once they heard about her great adventure.

Even so, she wondered who the man in the black robe was, the man that had lead her here. How did he end up on the beach of the islands? What reason did he have for bringing her here? Even though she didn't want to question the means by which her journey became possible, she couldn't help but to be skeptical. More importantly, why did her dream reappear to her when he approached?

So many questions filled Kairi's head, all of them as confusing as the last and sprouting many more questions like an elaborate tree of mystery.

Her train of thought was interrupted when they finally pulled into Pizza Planet, its exterior brimming with fluorescent lights as loud music erupted from its doors. It was an exciting place, albeit a little noisy for her liking. She took note of how different it was from the peaceful crashing of the ocean waves at home, broken only by the cawing of gulls. But different didn't have to mean bad.

The three of them donned disguises in the form of trash, with Kairi stuffing herself into a small French fry container that reeked of grease and salt, sending her stomach once again on the verge of emptying itself.

They hobbled out of the vehicle and across the sidewalk to the front doors, pausing only to duck down whenever one of the giant people happened to pass by. When they finally made it into the building and removed their disguises, Kairi gazed upon an amazing sight, her wooden jaw dropping dangerously far for its hinges.

The place was a metropolis of flashing lights in every direction. The noise it produced cascaded over her, with many light hearted beeps and boops bouncing off of every corner. Children sat at booths and games, their voices of glee bellowing out, amplified a hundred times by their sheer size.

Her companions stood vigilant, looking for any sign of Andy.

"All right cadet, keep a lookout," commanded Buzz, "they have to be around here somewhe-"

Buzz stopped midsentence as he gazed up at one of the machines. Kairi followed his sight until she found his goal, a large ship sitting atop the glass dome of a grabbing machine. Woody walked up to Buzz in panic.

"Buzz. Buzz! You can't be thinking…no. Buzz don't do this!" Woody tried to stop him as Buzz booked off towards the ship, shouting back to them.

"No time to talk now! This ship is just what I need to get back to Star Command! Come on cadet; let's move out before it takes off!"

Kairi traded a worried glance with Woody as they bolted after Buzz who was in the middle of climbing into the machine.

They tried to coax Buzz out, but he only burrowed himself in deeper, forcing them to follow him. Up the red metal pipes they clambered, still shouting at the space ranger as they entered the deep tunnels. Before too long they entered the chamber of the machine, a chamber filled to the brim with identical green toys, all mumbling to themselves, unaware of their arrival.

Woody shoved the toys out of his way, "see Buzz? You can't even get to the ship from here. Can we just go back out now and find Andy so we can go home?" he begged.

"Yeah come on Buzz, we need to get out of here. I don't like the look of this place and these toys are giving me the creeps. Can we please just go back?"

"Pick up your spine cadet!" Buzz replied, "there has to be some way to get up there. What's that up top?" he inquired as he pointed towards a large metal protrusion that hung down from the sealing.

Kairi was startled as the green toys all answered his question in unison, their identical voices chanting out in a way that was not at all horrifyingly weird.

"The claw! He's our leader!" spoke the toys in an eerie monotone voice.

As if by summoning, the claw shook, its gears creaking as it began to lower itself down to them.

"Buzz, get down!" cried Kairi to the space man as she scrambled to get ahold of him. But the sea of toys resisted her, giving her only the chance to grab his leg, desperately trying to pull him back down.

She felt Woody grab onto her leg in turn, his face full of terror.

"That kid out there is Sid Buzz! Sid! He mangles toys like it's nothing; you need to get back down!"

The claw descended closer and closer as they tried to pull their friend back to safety. But it was in vain as the steel of the claw latched around Buzz's arm, pulling the three of them out of the sea of toys that proceeded to chant at them in glee. Kairi went limp as she tried to maintain herself, but panic filled her as she was lifted clear into the air.

As she faced the glass she spotted the child that had captured them. His face was menacing, covered in freckles and with teeth jagged and yellowed. He let out a sinister cackle that sent a chill down her spine.

"Three for one?" he cheered to himself, "awesome! Hey you guys, we're going to have….fun tonight." The kids cackling dissipated as the trio dropped down into a hatch, sliding out of the machine and back out to the floor of the arcade.

The child's hands grabbed them, the smell of filth and sweat nearly overcame Kairi as she was gathered up.

"Well you guys," he whispered to them, "let's….go home."

His horrifying laugh filled her ears, sending her into a state of chilling fear.

The laugh didn't end as they exited through the front doors, entered yet another vehicle, and sped off into the night.


End file.
